Queens Library

The Queens Library, also known as the Queens Borough Public Library, is the public library for the Borough of Queens and one of three library systems serving New York City. It was the No. 1 library system in the United States by circulation, having loaned 21 million items in the 2007 fiscal year. It was named “2009 Library of the Year” by Library Journal. According to its website, the library holds about 6.6 million items, of which 1.2 million are at its central library in Jamaica, Queens.

Dating back to the foundation of the first Queens library in Flushing in 1858, QL has become one of the largest public library systems in the United States, comprising some 62 branches throughout the borough. Since 1994, it has had high annual circulation, and it is the second largest library in the country in terms of the size of its collection. QL serves Queens' population of more than 2.2 million, including one of the largest immigrant populations in the country. Consequently, a large percentage of QL's collections are in non-English languages, particularly Spanish. QL is separate both from the New York Public Library, which covers Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island, and the Brooklyn Public Library, which covers that borough alone.